Visual indexing system for medical diagnostic data

A medical data indexing system comprising a patient indexing server adapted to:

• a. obtain electronic patient records for a plurality of patients via a computer network, each patient having a set of body parts, from one or more medical information systems, the patient record for each patient comprising a specification of one or more target body parts and diagnostic data for each target body part;
• b. for each patient, construct a patient index comprising a pre-defined set of body part identifiers by identifying one or more pre-defined body part identifiers corresponding to the specification of each of the target body parts, and associating the diagnostic data for each of the target body parts with the identified pre-defined target body part identifiers in the patient index;
• and
• c. receive data retrieval requests from requestors, each request specifying a patient, and, for each request, provide the patient index corresponding to the specified patient to the requestor.

A method of indexing medical data by a computer system, the method comprising the steps of:

• a. receiving a patient identifier specifying a patient from a requestor, the patient having a set of body parts;
• b. retrieving from a medical information system an electronic patient record for the patient via a computer network, the patient record comprising a specification of one or more target body parts and diagnostic data associated with each of the target body parts;
• c. generating an index image depicting a set of the patient's body parts;
• d. if one or more of the target body parts are depicted in the index image, highlighting those target body parts in the index image;
• e. providing the index image to the requestor;
• and
• f. if the requestor selects one of the highlighted target body parts, providing some or all of the associated diagnostic data to the requestor.

A method of indexing medical data by a computer system, the method comprising the steps of:

• a. receiving a data retrieval request from a requestor, the request specifying a patient;
• b. obtaining an electronic patient record for the patient from one or more medical information systems via a computer network, the patient having a set of body parts, the patient record comprising a specification of one or more target body parts and diagnostic data for each target body part;
• c. constructing a patient index comprising a pre-defined set of body part identifiers by identifying one or more pre-defined body part identifiers corresponding to the specification of each of the target body parts, and associating the diagnostic data for each of the target body parts with the identified pre-defined target body part identifiers in the patient index;
• and
• d. providing the patient index to the requestor.